EA Sports, the hottest sports gamemaker around, is setting a new trend, saying you'll have to pay double to play your used games fully. You'll first have to buy the game at the store, and you'll then have to pay EA $10 to reactivate multiplayer services. (Source: Daily Radar)

GameStop will be helping Electronic Arts implement its scheme

Electronic
Arts is the king of the sports game market with hot upcoming
titles including NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, Madden NFL 11, NBA 11,
FIFA 11, and EA Sports MMA. Now it has made a controversial
decision concerning all of those titles -- it will lock players who
buy used copies out
of online multiplayer.

When it comes to sports games, a
multiplayer mode is one of the chief draws. And now that the
internet allows playing with fans all over the world, online
multiplayer provides massive amounts of fun.

Purchasers of a
used game get locked out of that goodness. "Online
services, features and bonus content" will all be covered by a
one time code, that won't work for the new purchaser. EA
describes, "You will be unable to play multiplayer online game
modes or use your downloaded content in online game modes."

Used
purchasers do gain access to a 7 day trial, but they will have to
purchase a $10 pass if they want to continue to play online.

EA
claims its all about offering its customers more, "This is an
important inflection point in our business because it allows us to
accelerate our commitment to enhance premium online services to the
entire robust EA SPORTS online community."

Ultimately,
the slick move is likely designed to help it rake in bigger profits,
though. Many purchasers will likely pay the $10 fee to renew
their online access.

Retailer GameStop is partnering with EA
to implement the plan. States GameStop Corp. Chief Executive
Officer, Dan DeMatteo, "GameStop is excited to partner with such
a forward-thinking publisher as Electronic Arts. This
relationship allows us to capitalize on our investments to market and
sell downloadable content online, as well as through our network of
stores worldwide."

GameStop recent landed itself in a bit
of trouble when it was caught selling used games which
it claimed they were new. Hopefully it doesn't try that
again, this time around.